US stocks open lower

New York - US stock markets opened lower Thursday despite improved data on job losses and Morgan Stanley's better-than-expected 2010 results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 44.27 points (0.37%) to 11 781.02 in early trades, while the broad-market S&P 500 index dropped 6.54 points (0.51%) to 1 275.38.

Meanwhile the tech-rich Nasdaq lost 18.16 points (0.67%) at 2 707.20.

The US Labor Department released data showing new unemployment claims fell more than expected last week after a sharp spike the week before.

Initial jobless claims fell to 404 000 in the week ending January 15, a drop of 37 000, continuing the downward trend in claims over the past five months.

Morgan Stanley turned in a 35% increase in fourth-quarter profit to $836m, with quarterly earnings per share 7.0% higher than analyst forecasts.